/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

I'm a near-complete beginner to con culture and the "scene" due to zero exposure to it until recently and I have too many questions swimming around in my head that I need to ask. I've only been to a couple of small ones in my mostly-desolate area and I want to step up to traveling to bigger ones but I'm overwhelmed. Please bear with me.
>Do a majority of congoers cosplay? I know it's common, but is it seen as a faux pas to not cosplay?
>Likewise, is it seen as a faux pas to wear the same cosplay more than once in a multi-day event, or to not wear it some days?
>I've read a lot on this board about "after hours" events and parties that aren't scheduled by the con staff. Do you have to get invited to things like that, or how do people find out about them?
>Do cons that don't have a stated sub-demographic (ones that use terms like "fandom" or "pop culture" instead of specifically "fantasy" or "otaku" or something) tend to accept all demographics? Would you be looked at weird for going to something more "western" like SDCC in an anime cosplay, or would you expect to see a lot of them?
>Why do some huge cons like Colossal and Dragon seem to place such significance on getting a hotel room onsite as opposed to just being nearby? Surely not just traffic, right?
>What's a "gull"?
>How do you not get sick every time you go to one?
>How do you keep track of scheduling for multiple cons across multiple years? Do you get notified about them? When is "con season"?
>If you're partying, how do you deal with inevitable hangovers or crashes?
And some more personal questions
>If you cosplay, what's normally your budget? Both in terms of time and money.
>How do you make friends at a con if you're not going with a group?
>How many cons do you go to yearly or on a recurring basis? There are a fuckton I want to see but I'm not sure if my expectations are unreasonable.
Thank you for your time.